Designation of Areas for Air Quality Planning Purposes; State of Nebraska

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 81

[NE-012-1012a; FRL-5655-6]

Designation of Areas for Air Quality Planning Purposes; State of

Nebraska

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Direct final rule.

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SUMMARY: This document takes final action to correct a previous action

published on November 6, 1991, that designated portions of Omaha,

Nebraska, as nonattainment for the lead National Ambient Air Quality

Standard (NAAQS) (see 56 FR 56694). Specifically, this action corrects

a mistake made in designating the southern boundary of that

nonattainment area.

DATES: This action is effective February 3, 1997 unless by January 3,

1997 adverse or critical comments are received. If the effective date

is delayed, timely notice will be published in the Federal Register.

ADDRESSES: Comments may be mailed to Josh Tapp, Environmental

Protection Agency, Air Branch, 726 Minnesota Avenue, Kansas City,

Kansas 66101. Copies of the documents relevant to this action are

available for public inspection during normal business hours at the:

Environmental Protection Agency, Air Planning and Development Branch,

726 Minnesota Avenue, Kansas City, Kansas 66101; and the EPA Air and

Radiation Docket and Information Center, 401 M Street, SW., Washington,

DC 20460.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Josh Tapp at (913) 551-7606.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On January 24, 1991, the state of Nebraska

submitted a letter which contained a recommendation for the EPA to

designate a portion of Omaha as nonattainment for the lead NAAQS. In

the letter, the state recommended the boundaries based on existing

monitoring data. The specific boundaries listed in Nebraska's January

1991 letter are: Fourth Street on the south, Eleventh Street on the

west, Avenue H and the Nebraska-Iowa border on the north, and the

Missouri River on the east.

On August 27, 1996, the state of Nebraska submitted a letter which

notified the EPA that its request in 1991 was not fully accurate. The

southern boundary was originally defined based on the fact that data

recorded at the monitor located at Fourth Street and Jones Street

showed attainment of the lead standard. However, in its 1991 request,

Nebraska incorrectly requested that the southern boundary be designated

as Fourth Street which actually runs north and south. The August 1996

letter requests that the EPA correct the error by designating the

southern boundary as Jones Street which runs east and west. The state

supplied a map which clearly delineates the relationship of Fourth

Street and Jones Street to the nonattainment area to support its

request.

Under section 110(k)(6) of the Clean Air Act (CAA), the EPA may

revise a previous designation when it determines that the designation

was in error. The EPA has determined that its identification of the

southern boundary of the Omaha lead nonattainment area was in error for

the reasons stated above.

I. Final Action

Pursuant to section 110(k)(6) of the Clean Air Act, this is a

direct final action which redefines the southern boundary of the Omaha

lead nonattainment area as Jones Street.

The EPA is publishing this action without prior proposal because

the Agency views this as a noncontroversial amendment and anticipates

no adverse comments. However, in a separate document in this Federal

Register publication, the EPA is proposing to approve the SIP revision

should adverse or critical comments be filed. This action is effective

February 3, 1997 unless, by January 3, 1997, adverse or critical

comments are received.

If the EPA receives such comments, this action will be withdrawn

before the effective date by publishing a subsequent document that will

withdraw the final action. All public comments received will then be

addressed in a subsequent final rule based on this action serving as a

proposed rule. The EPA will not institute a second comment period on

this action. Any parties interested in commenting on this action should

do so at this time. If no such comments are received, the public is

advised that this action is effective February 3, 1997.

Nothing in this action should be construed as permitting or

allowing or establishing a precedent for any future request for

revision to any SIP. Each request for revision to the SIP shall be

considered separately in light of specific technical, economic, and

environmental factors, and in relation to relevant statutory and

regulatory requirements.

II. Administrative Requirements

A. Executive Order 12866

This action has been classified as a Table 3 action for signature

by the Regional Administrator under the procedures published in the

Federal Register on January 19, 1989 (54 FR 2214-2225), as revised by a

July 10, 1995, memorandum from Mary Nichols, Assistant Administrator

for Air and Radiation. The Office of Management and Budget has exempted

this regulatory action from E.O. 12866 review.

B. Unfunded Mandates

Under section 202 of the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995

(``Unfunded Mandates Act''), signed into law on March 22, 1995, the EPA

must prepare a budgetary impact statement to accompany any proposed or

final rule that includes a Federal mandate that may result in estimated

costs to state, local, or tribal governments in the aggregate; or to

private sector, of $100 million or more. Under section 205, the EPA

must select the most cost-effective and least burdensome alternative

that achieves the objectives of the rule and is consistent with

statutory requirements. Section 203 requires the EPA to establish a

plan for informing and advising any small governments that may be

significantly or uniquely impacted by the rule.

The EPA has determined that the approval action promulgated does

not include a Federal mandate that may result in estimated costs of

$100 million or more to either state, local, or tribal governments in

the aggregate, or to the private sector. This Federal action approves

preexisting requirements under state or local law, and imposes no new

Federal requirements. Accordingly, no additional costs to state, local,

or tribal governments, or to the private sector, result from this

action.

C. Submission to Congress and the General Accounting Office

Under 5 U.S.C. 801(a)(1)(A) as added by the Small Business

Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996, EPA submitted a report

containing this rule and other required information to the U.S. Senate,

the U.S. House of Representatives, and the Comptroller General of the

General Accounting Office prior to publication of the rule in today's

Federal Register. This rule is not a ``major rule'' as defined by 5

U.S.C. 804(2).

[[Page 64295]]

D. Petitions for Judicial Review

Under section 307(b)(1) of the CAA, petitions for judicial review

of this action must be filed in the United States Court of Appeals for

the appropriate circuit by February 3, 1997. Filing a petition for

reconsideration by the Administrator of this final rule does not affect

the finality of this rule for the purposes of judicial review, nor does

it extend the time within which a petition for judicial review may be

filed, and shall not postpone the effectiveness of such rule or action.

This action may not be challenged later in proceedings to enforce its

requirements. (See section 307(b)(2).)

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 81

Environmental protection, Air pollution control, National parks,

Wilderness areas.

Dated: November 14, 1996.

Dennis Grams,

Regional Administrator.

Part 81, chapter I, title 40 of the Code of Federal Regulations is

amended as follows:

PART 81--[AMENDED]

1. The authority citation for part 81 continues to read as follows:

Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7401--7671q.

Subpart B--Nebraska

2. Section 81.328 is amended by revising the lead table to read as

follows:

Sec. 81.328 Nebraska.

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Nebraska--Lead

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Designation Classification

Designated area --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Date Type Date Type

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Douglas County (part):

Portion of city of Omaha 1/6/92 Nonattainment

bounded by: Jones Street

on the south, Eleventh

Street on the west, Avenue

H and the Nebraska-Iowa

border on the north, and

the Missouri River on the

east.

Rest of State Not Designated

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[FR Doc. 96-30471 Filed 12-3-96; 8:45 am]

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